Sacred Sun Farms co-founders built their company from the ground up at a time when Montana’s regulations were shifting dramatically and mandated vertical integration forced them to learn everything about the industry at once.
“We started out doing everything: growing, retail, edibles. You name it, we do it, and we got real good at it,” Cody Lundmark says. “I don’t think a lot of people realize how difficult it is to build a company in total vertical integration.”
In those years, Sacred Sun Farms had to carefully maintain its own supply chain of high-end cannabis products, which amassed a loyal following among patients during the company’s medical days. But now, with the removal of mandated vertical integration on January 1, 2022, the company has been able to bring its critically acclaimed products to the wholesale market.
“It immediately opened up another massive department within our company,” Dustin Shaler says, adding that Sacred Sun is increasing its overall production to meet the growing demands from new partners, as well as its three retail locations in Bozeman, Glendive and Wolf Point.
While the company has grown rapidly across the board, the centerpiece of its success has been its extracts.
“That’s really what we’ve gotten to be known for,” Antonette Lininger says. “As much as we’d all love to talk about our flower, edibles and our retail experience — which are all very unique in Montana — I really think our extracts have been the highlight of 2022.”
Through partnerships with some of Montana’s cannabis pioneers like Lionheart Cannabis, Lone Peak Cannabis Company and High Road Edibles, Sacred Sun Farms extracts are sold in nearly every retail store in the state. The company uses full-spectrum, strain-specific cannabis oil with their natural THC-to-CBD ratios left intact for its extracts and infused products. The oil comes from flower grown at the company’s Clean Green certified farm in no-till soil using the same standards as USDA Organic farms. All Sacred Sun’s infused products use its award-winning, full-spectrum cannabis oil or mechanically extracted hash, including its extract blends, featuring carefully paired strains that complement each other in terms of taste and effect.
The company is now pushing the extraction envelope even further with its newest product, Terp Tanks, which take a terpene-centric twist on its full-spectrum philosophy.
“They are incredible,” Lundmark says.
Terp Tanks were developed by the company’s lab technicians, who have years of full-spectrum extraction experience and familiarity with the profiles of high-terpene strains (which were sold individually or used in a blend with other, less terpene-heavy strains). The fusion of these high-terpene strains created a variety of explosive, unique flavor profiles with 30-38% terpenes and 30-50% THC.
“They are the fullest expression of the plants’ flavor,” Shaler says. “They have a lower concentration of THCA, making for a bold, full-bodied flavor and a well-rounded high.”
While Sacred Sun Farms remains committed to producing top-notch cannabis products, the company’s mission is to put people and the environment before revenue. It’s a business mantra that has garnered respect from peers and consumers and can clearly be seen in its green production practices, advocacy for sustainable regulations, retail discounts for seniors and veterans, annual events such as coat drives and weekly contributions from retail sales to local charities in Bozeman, Wolf Point and Glendive.
“Our bottom line is always the community and the people,” Lininger says.
More information: Sacredsunfarms.org